St. John 6:51-69
Dearly beloved,
We hear the third sermon on John 6 today. This sermon of
Jesus in John 6 is the most sublime and meaningful preaching that we hear. So
much doctrine is found in it. There is so much exhortation to Christian
living. It’s all there. The words of Jesus in this gospel are very
sacramental in their imagery. One hears Jesus say, “unless you eat the
flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.”
The way the dialogue plays out in this gospel is important.
Jesus says, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one
eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I shall give
for the life of the world is my flesh.” The reaction of the Jews is crucial
to the meaning of Christ’s words. Now, if the Jews listening on understood
as Jesus speaking figuratively about His flesh, then they would not answer
this way: “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” The listeners are
taking Christ’s words about eating His flesh literally.
If the Jews had it wrong and were taking Christ’s words too
literally, then one would think that Jesus would say, “no, you are missing
the point.” But Jesus doesn’t say that. Instead, Jesus responds, “Truly,
truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink
His blood, you have no life in you.” Jesus is in essence saying, that it is
indeed the case that they must eat and drink Christ’s body and blood.
Jesus is preaching this sermon in the synagogue in
Capernaum. Jesus had a tough audience to preach to. Where this gospel gets
really interesting is in what follows. I want you to do two things today. I
want you to highlight in your mind the sacramental nature of Christ’s words
about eating His flesh and drinking His blood, because the Lord’s Supper is
the life-blood of the Christian. It is given to us for strengthening in the
faith. We need it.
The second thing I want you to pay attention to is how
difficult it is to be a disciple of Christ. This is important because one
vantage point of the Christian is such that we think being a disciple is
easy. The gospel for today shows that it is not easy being a disciple. Jesus
and John give us glimpses as to why being a disciple of Jesus is difficult.
After Jesus speaks of the necessity of people eating His flesh and drinking
His blood, it is His very own disciples who are given voice. We are told by
John that “many of Christ’s disciples, when they heard it, said, ‘This is a
hard saying; who can listen to it?’”
The disciples were offended. They didn’t like the doctrine.
It wasn’t what they were used to. It didn’t make sense to their use of
reason. Jesus says the brilliant thing, “Do you take offense at this? Then
what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending where He was before?” What
Jesus is saying is that if they cannot believe that they must eat and drink
Christ, then they will never believe their eyes when they see Jesus Himself
in the resurrection and ascension.
Jesus reminds them: “It is the Spirit that gives life, the
flesh is of no avail.” In other words, it’s the heavenly things brought by
the Holy Spirit that matter. The things of this world will deceive us. This
is very important for you to think about. You spend most of your time
during the week—perhaps all of your time—dealing with worldly things that
are concrete. Your life consists of hard facts and visible realities. You
know what the things of this world are capable of.
But when we talk about doctrines that go against these
realities that you know, then it becomes difficult. Bread and wine
simultaneously being the body and blood of Christ can be a difficult reality
for many. Theologians from all backgrounds fought about this very topic in
the days of the Reformation. We see in the gospel for today that many
disciples could not handle the teaching of Christ.
The thing I asked you to pay attention to is this: being a
disciple is not easy. The teachings and doctrines of Christ divide. We may
not like it, but we are being taught by Jesus in this gospel that the way to
salvation is very different than what we are used to. The problem that you
have to watch out for is complacency and being comfortable in the world. Far
too many Christians do not even know what the doctrines of the church really
are, and when they find out it becomes a stumbling block.
This happens in the gospel. We are told after this
discourse that many of Christ’s disciples turned back and no longer followed
Him. What caused them to stumble? The teachings of Jesus, the doctrines of
God that were new to their ears and not well-received. My friends, things
are not as they always appear. The Christian faith leaves room for the
mysteries of Christ. You must submit to the words and teachings of Jesus
Christ. An intelligent Christian faith is one that tests and challenges
what he or she believes.
This leads up to one of the most beautiful passages of Holy
Scripture ever uttered by a sinful human being. When many of the disciples
left, Jesus then turned to the twelve disciples and asked them “will you
also go away?” and Simon Peter answered, “Lord to whom shall we go? You have
the words of eternal life; and we have believed and come to know that you
are the Holy One of God.” Do you cling to the words of Jesus Christ and
study them carefully and make them your life?
If you are honest, you will acknowledge that you do not
fully comprehend what it means to have eternal truths at your fingertips and
spoken in your midst. You will admit that you take His teachings for
granted. Many people turn away from the church because they do not like what
is taught, thereby becoming like the disciples who were offended and left
Jesus.
It doesn’t have to be this way, though. We must learn in
our practice of repentance that repentance also encompasses an atmosphere of
being humble. A humble disposition is the acknowledgment that we are alive
because of the words of Jesus. We truly live. A humble disposition is also
trusting that God will not steer you the wrong way. The problem with the
disciples who left Jesus was that they did not truly submit to Jesus and His
road.
This entire discourse is meant to teach us correct doctrine
and how to live as Christ’s disciples with a humble trust. “Lord to whom
shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” The only place for you to
go is to the foot of the cross where your sins have been redeemed. You
failure to trust is a sin that was paid for. Jesus paid for all of your
sins. You are His children, and His living word is in your midst imparting
blessings to you as He continues to protect you and care for you, His holy
children. Amen.
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Rev. Chad Kendall
www.frchadius.blogspot.com
Trinity Lutheran Church
Lowell, Indiana
www.trinitylowell.org
